WebCogito

Stop. Stay. Think.

Starting on June 14, 2010, I started getting phone constant phone calls from a strange number: (707) 307-4243. Since I don’t know anyone in Santa Rosa, California, and no one in Santa Rosa should have my private mobile number, I did not answer the call.

Apparently, they didn’t take too kindly to my ignoring their generous offer to communicate with me.

Since that Monday, exactly seven days ago, I have been called FIFTEEN TIMES by that number. Never a message is left. The earliest calls always happen a shade after 9 AM, and the latest just a shade after 6 PM.

Finally, this morning I decided to find out who died and finally answer. That’s when I discovered how lucky I was that someone was calling me OnBehalfOfTheDallasMorningNews, WithAnOfferEspeciallyForFormerSubscribers…. and I type it like that because that is how the caller was talking. I kept trying to interrupt to respond that I was not interested, and not waste his time by allowing him to give me his whole spiel only to be turned down at the end. But God bless his probably-underpaid-soul, he would not give me the chance. I’m guessing he took a deep breath before I picked up the phone, because he didn’t even seem to be pausing for breath, he was so busy speeding through his script, and ignoring my attempts to interrupt him.

It wasn’t until I kept repeating, “no, no, no, no” countless times over him that he finally stopped.
I told him I wasn’t interested, and to stop calling me, and to put me on his Do-Not-Call List, to which he responded, “SureWeCanDoThatLetMeJustTransferYouToMySupervisor” and I heard silence on the line. I checked the screen on my phone, and the timer was still going, so the call was still active. After about a minute of this, I finally hung up.

If you google the phone number that called me, you’ll see that I’m not the only one that has complaints about the Telemarketing company that calls from this number.

Dallas Morning News Circulation Department, you have a call to make. And it’s not to me.

How much is a High School Diploma worth? Well, if you’re in the Dallas metro area and over 25 years of age, the answer is about $8,000 dollars, give or take a few hundred. In 2008, a person that failed to graduate from H.S. or get their GED could have been expected to earn approximately $20,253/yr. on average. Add in a H.S. Degree or GED, and that median goes up to $28,146. An additional $8k or so gets added for some college experience or Associate’s Degree, bringing the total to $36,782. And then the money really starts coming in: If you have a Bachelor’s Degree in North Texas, in 2008 the median salary was $52,219, and with a Graduate Degree the median rises to $66,211.

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How Much is a H.S. Diploma Worth?

It could be called “A Tale of Two Rivers”. If you were corny. Or if it was two rivers. But it’s only one river: The Trinity River, passing through both Fort Worth and Dallas, and the centerpiece of urban revitalization projects in both sister cities.  And that’s about where  the similarities end:   The Fort Worth TRV is moving right along, and is actually being helped by the recession, with the estimated costs of the next phase declining by $2.6 million dollars, according to the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram.  Thirty miles away, the Dallas Trinity River Corridor Project is getting its federal funds cut.

Again.

“Houston is technically bankrupt”

That was the claim that Republican Gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina made last night at a press meeting after a primary debate.

Who knew?

Yesterday the Dallas Morning News reported in its business section on a study (actually, a press release) that claims that home prices in the Dallas area actually ROSE in 2008.  Yeah. Rose.

The truth, as reported every month by the same Dallas Morning News, is that the median price of North Texas homes has dropped from $149,000 in March 2008 to $129,000 in January 2009. The median price is a much better indicator of the overall health of a real estate market than simple average price, since average price can be affected by a few house purchases that are in the millions.  The median price is the middle price, where half the homes for that month were sold for more, and half for less.

2008 North Texas Median Home Prices